


The Truth of the Matter

by idelthoughts



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-22
Updated: 2012-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-16 13:16:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4626642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idelthoughts/pseuds/idelthoughts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A good old-fashioned hurt/comfort truth serum story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Continues on from [this drabble.](http://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=48020)
> 
> Originally posted on [whofic.com](http://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=48301&textsize=0&chapter=1) \- an old story, but I'm collecting everything on my ao3 profile.

  
Jack was dozing when the magnets in the door disengaged with a heavy clang. He sat up as the door slid slowly to the side on rollers. The Doctor was already up, balanced lightly on the balls of his feet in the middle of the room. Jack rose to join him, and they prepared to meet their captors.  
  
Two armed guards entered, followed by a woman and a man. The woman was dressed in a gold uniform that matched those of the guards, and the man was in a grey tunic with trousers. While the man fairly vibrated with energy, eyes darting over the Doctor with unrestrained enthusiasm, the woman seemed thoroughly fed up.  
  
“My chief of medical tells me that I have the pleasure of a real, live alien,” the woman said without preamble, gesturing to the man at her side. “And I say I have the pleasure of one of the most pathetic, last-ditch attempts at distraction yet attempted by the rebels.” She stopped a foot in front of them. “So which is it?”  
  
“Well, first off, introductions, yeah? I’m the Doctor. It’s a pleasure–” He was just moving to extend his hand to the woman before him, but the guards raised their weapons and trained them on him. He held his hands up in a placating gesture instead. “Okay, a little on the touchy side. Personal space, I can respect that.”  
  
“You were arrested at a known Objector establishment, along with a number of key rebel members that were in the midst of planning terrorist activity. Do you deny it?”  
  
“An establishment which makes some of the best meat pies in this time period,” the Doctor said. “And I was just telling your nice officer with the overenthusiastic fists that we had just popped in to pick a few up, and then would be off again as quick as you please. Really, honestly, had nothing to do with any rebels.” He cocked his head, sticking out his bottom lip thoughtfully. “This time, anyway. On this planet. Usually, yeah, I’ll admit I like a good rebel, but here? No, honestly, just after the meat pies.”  
  
The woman scoffed at him, turning her back on them, shooting her companion a withering look. “This is ridiculous. I don’t know why I let you bring me down here, Nadir. Take them through standard processing.”  
  
“Commandant Peel, please.” Nadir thrust the tablet he was carrying into the commandant’s hands. “We started them through standard processing, but look at this.” He tapped an urgent finger on the screen. “His biostats. This is not normal.”  
  
“I don’t have time for this.” She quickly scanned it, then handed it back to him. “It must have been a glitch.”  
  
“It’s not. Just let me get them in for further testing,” Nadir pleaded. Jack recognized his tone. Tosh had wheedled like that whenever glittery tech had come through the door at Torchwood. She’d give anything to study some of the more choice treasures they’d recovered, and Jack wasn’t enthused at being the toy at the end of this man’s microscope. “I think we have something very important here, Commandant.”  
  
“Doctor?” Jack said softly under his breath. Both he and the Doctor had their secrets to protect. Being stuck in the hands of paranoid military doctors was low on the list of ideal ways to spend the next indeterminate number of years. If the Doctor could talk them out of this situation, this was his last chance.  
  
“Don’t worry, Jack.” The Doctor smiled at Nadir, who looked both anxious and pleased at the same time. “Just a little misunderstanding, I’m sure.”  
  
“What I understand is that you were arrested along with a number of big players in the coordinated Objector attacks that are raging all across the continent, and I am here participating in this little charade instead of getting information!” Peel roared at the Doctor, and he tipped back on his heels. “I have five others on my list, and mark my words, I will have the location of the next attack by the time I am done with the lot of you.” She turned to leave, giving direction to the guards as she passed them. “Cuff them and take them to Medical One. You can keep that one,” she gestured to Jack, “but I want the other one prepped and ready for interrogation.”  
  
“Wait now, aren’t you being a little hasty?” The Doctor tried to follow Peel, but was forced back as the guards brought their weapons to bear again. “What about a few more threats, some posturing, maybe roughing us up a bit? Skipping straight ahead to medical testing? Why don’t we chat a bit more first?”  
  
Jack and the Doctor were being herded back by the encroaching guards. Soon they were shoulder to shoulder, backs to the wall.  
  
From the door, Peel spoke. “We’ll chat later, don’t worry. I’m sure that next time we meet, you’ll be much more talkative.” She stepped through the door, Nadir close at her heels, and they were gone.  
  
“Turn around and put your hands behind your head,” one guard said, eye to his weapon sight. “On your knees, facing the wall.”  
  
Jack eyed the two soldiers. A quick step and turn, and he could take the one guard and get his gun, but the other would be on him in an instant, which would put him at square one. At this point he could only see two ways out of this cell–cuffed and separated, or in a body bag.  
  
At least option two was suited to Jack’s unique skill set. “Doctor.” It was a quiet warning.  
  
The Doctor looked over at him and read his intentions instantly, but his expression went dark. “No, Jack. Don’t you dare.” He turned towards the wall purposefully, his eyes trained on Jack and pleading that he follow his lead.  
  
Not likely. Jack sized up the guards again and made a show of sighing and dropping his head in defeat, half-raising his arms in a gesture of surrender. As he turned he leaned over to quickly kiss the Doctor on the cheek, as if seizing a last-minute opportunity. Under cover of the action, he murmured in the Doctor’s ear, “Keep down. I’ll find you as soon as I can.”  
  
He was about to spin and turn on the nearest guard when, to his surprise, the Doctor flung his arms around Jack and pinned him with a tight embrace. Jack heard the click of metal as both guards tensed and shifted their weapons at the unexpected action, but the Doctor didn’t move beyond grabbing Jack.  
  
“I said don’t,” the Doctor hissed in his ear.  
  
“What are you doing?” he grit back. He tried to pull away from the Doctor, but he was stronger than he looked and kept Jack firmly in place.  
  
The window of opportunity closed. Hands grasped Jack’s wrists and forced them behind his back, and he could see another man doing the same to the Doctor, pulling them apart and cuffing them securely. The Doctor stood rigidly as the guard cuffed his arms and legs, but Jack obstinately shuffled his feet as the guard reached to close the second cuff around his ankle. The Doctor gave Jack a warning look, and, grinding his teeth, he relaxed and allowed the guard to finish binding him. He glared at the Doctor.  
  
“Thank you,” the Doctor said quietly, looking at Jack intently.  
  
Jack shook his head, too irritated to think of anything to say in response, and looked away from him pointedly. If the Doctor had a plan, he couldn’t guess what it was. However, if the plan was stand around and stay captured as long as possible, then the plan was right on track.  
  
There were footsteps at the door, and Nadir re-entered the room again, a small plastic container in his hands. Jack and the Doctor were manhandled around to face the wall, forced to their knees.  
  
“This won’t hurt.” Nadir’s voice came from directly behind them.  
  
It was the only warning they got, and then Jack felt a prick at his neck and the burn of an injection. He jerked and twisted to see Nadir behind him, withdrawing a needle, and already he could feel his knees softening under him. He took a step that was hampered by the cuffs and staggered, only to be caught by the orderly behind him.  
  
“Oh, great,” he muttered, but the words were twisted and sloppy. He tried to get his feet under him, but his muscles refused to cooperate.  
  
“Jack!” the Doctor cried out. “What are you doing? What did you give him?”  
  
Jack tried to reassure the Doctor that he was just fine, but the garbled noise bore no resemblance to words.  
  
“A sedative. Your turn, Doctor.”  
  
Jack flailed at Nadir, trying to knock the needle from his hand, and give the Doctor a chance to run. The world spun as Jack teetered and fell, senses rapidly shutting down. He struggled to maintain consciousness, but his head was growing heavy, and soon everything faded away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing Jack and the Doctor bickering is probably my favourite thing ever.

Jack ached. Must have been some bender. Had he drunk himself to death again? Why would he do that? He’d been…  
  
–with the Doctor. It all came flooding back. Damn the stubborn idiot. He’d blown their best chance of getting out of here, and now he had no idea where the Doctor was. Come to think of it, he had no idea where he himself was.  
  
Jack opened his eyes, and they took a moment to focus. A large machine fixed to the ceiling above hovered over him, chugging and humming noisily as it worked. Jack lifted his head far enough to glance at his arms and legs without shifting his body too much. He was lying on a medical bench in a pale yellow room that hummed loudly with the sound of working machinery.  
  
A laser scanner was travelling the length of his body, and he could see the green hash of lines as it ran along his abdomen, headed in the direction of his feet. He wasn’t restrained, so they must have expected the sedative to keep him under for the duration of the procedure. There was no way to tell how much time had passed, but the effects of the drug were quickly disappearing. Most drugs failed to work for long on him, thanks to his unique physiology, so however long they’d meant for him to be under, it was a near-sure bet that he’d only been out for a fraction of the expected time.  
  
He was alone in the room. No sign of the Doctor or anyone else. Jack scanned the yellow walls–there, a double door. No way tell from here if it was locked, and there was no point letting them know he was conscious only to find himself locked and contained in this scanning room. He’d guess that as long as he held still, no one would be alerted to the fact that he was awake. He relaxed back onto the table, breathing deeply and evenly, allowing the effects of the sedative to leave his system before he decided on his next course of action.  
  
First order of business: locate the Doctor. Why the idiot had derailed a perfectly good escape plan, he couldn’t imagine. Damn the man and his compulsive need to throw himself in the path of all danger. Jack was no fainting damsel in distress, he hardly needed the Doctor’s protective wing.  
  
This was the fourth time the Doctor had dropped in to his life in Cardiff and scooped him up for some pointless adventure. ‘Hey Jack, I just found this place that uses crystallized jet trails to paint the sky, wanna go see?’ or ‘Hey Jack, have you every gone cliff jumping on Mushu? The air is so thick, you fall so slow you don’t need a parachute.’ Years would pass, and then the Doctor would turn up on his doorstep, sauntering in like an errant tomcat with another invitation. Somehow they never managed to do what they set out for in the first place, but that was usually half the fun.  
  
Though the promise of pasties and ending up with threat of vivisection, that was a first. Right now the Doctor was being interrogated, or worse. Jack tried to master his concern and keep himself relaxed, playing at unconsciousness. Through hooded lids he could see the flickering grid of the laser scanner reach his feet, and once it passed beyond, the hum in the room changed pitch and then stopped as the light flicked off. His breathing was loud in the sudden silence. The doors pushed open, and Jack heard the steps of two people and the creak of wheels come towards him.  
  
“I told you he was human,” a man’s voice grumbled. “I mean, look at him! What else would he be?”  
  
“The other one, though–they’ve got him in Medical Two, and apparently he’s not! Terrick came by on his break, said that prelims all say he’s an alien. Looks completely human on the outside, but something totally different on the inside.” The woman with him sounded young, eager, with a hint of scandalized gossip apparent on her voice. “Freaky, isn’t it?”  
  
Jack carefully kept his breathing steady and relaxed, tucking away the information about the Doctor. Hands grabbed him under the shoulder and by the feet, and he was shifted onto a stretcher.  
  
“Freaky,” the man agreed, his voice strained with effort as he lifted Jack’s shoulders. “If it’s true, they could be anyone, anywhere.”  
  
“I know,” the woman agreed. “I heard they’re breaking out the Veritirum. Peel herself is doing the interrogation.” She snickered. “Poor guy. Never mind the Veritirum, he’ll be telling everything he knows just to get rid of her.”  
  
The man laughed. “Looks like the scans are good. We’re done with him.”  
  
“Okay, I’ll call Doctor Nadir.”  
  
Time to move. Before the man at his head could shift, Jack struck, reaching up to grab his nearest wrist. Startled blue eyes looked down at him, then up at the woman who was standing at Jack’s side. The young woman gaped, momentarily frozen, then made a squeaking noise of terror, reaching for a communication device on her hip. Jack kicked out his feet, trapped her in a scissor-grip with his legs, and pulled her close. With a swift strike with his free hand, he rendered the young woman unconscious, and released her to fall to the floor. In nearly the same movement, Jack pivoted up, pulling the young man closer and over the head of the stretcher to catch hold of his other arm.  
  
The man was shaking and stuttering with fear. “Please, please don’t kill me, oh god,” he babbled, struggling futilely against Jack’s hold.  
  
“Calm down,” Jack said firmly, giving him a little shake until he lapsed into terrified silence. “Your friend isn’t dead, she’s just unconscious. She’ll be fine. So will you, if you pay attention.” He gave the young man a pat on the cheek. “Now, how about you tell me where I can find Medical Two.”  
  
The man gulped nervously, and nodded.  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
Jack left the medical staff change room behind, with the barely audible voice of the young man whining through the door of the locked supply closet. He tugged on the bright yellow cotton uniform and his appropriated security badge, looking out the corridor in both directions before walking off. The young man had nearly wet himself in the process, but Jack had managed to get the Doctor’s likely location and shift change information for the facility staff. This was the night rotation, and he had half an hour until the morning staff came on. There weren’t many people on duty right now, and those that were had already worked a long night - this was his best chance to find and spring the Doctor. Of course, this was all a moot point as soon as they discovered that he had escaped from Medical One.  
  
Voices in the corridor ahead hummed in low conversation, and Jack dropped his head to feign interest in the clipboard he’d grabbed on his way out of the change room, running his finger along the table of information that appeared to be a list of times and dates when the toilet had been cleaned, and by whom. From the corner of his eye he could see the gold uniforms of the military guards as they walked past him, deep in their own conversation. They ignored him as though he were invisible, walking past without a second glance. Jack risked a look back over his shoulder, and saw them walk on and around the bend of the corridor. So far so good. No telling when they’d discover his absence, so best to hurry.  
  
It didn’t take long to find Medical Two, one floor below him. It was laid out similar to the floor above, though Jack noted a great deal more holding rooms.  
  
He turned the corner and saw a guard standing outside a nondescript door. At a quick glance, he saw that it was one of the men who had entered the cell when he had been sedated. This was his best bet. Taking a steadying breath, Jack continued to walk along the corridor, seemingly engrossed in his clipboard table. The guard looked bored and tired, rifle slung across his shoulder and resting at his hip, and he only gave Jack a cursory look before returning to his blank stare at the wall. When Jack was only two steps from him he heard the gasp of recognition. He looked up and gave the astonished guard a wild grin and wink.  
  
Before the guard could snap out of his shock, Jack flung the clipboard at him. Blindly, the guard fumbled for his rifle, but Jack grabbed it first. He swung it up and slammed the heavy butt into the underside of the guard’s chin. Metal hit bone with a meaty smack, and the guard slumped against Jack, out cold. Dumping the unconscious body against the wall, Jack snatched the key card off the guard’s belt and scanned it against the door. He tightened his grip on the rifle. The electromagnetic lock released with heavy click, and the door slid aside.  
  
The cell was small and blindingly white, same as the one in which they’d first been held. A narrow shelf served as a bed, and the Doctor was sitting on it with his head in his hands, suit in rumpled disarray. He looked up when Jack entered.  
  
Jack gave him a mock bow. “Your knight in shining armour has arrived. I’m afraid I left the carriage behind, however, so we’re on foot tonight.”  
  
The Doctor leapt up, straightening his suit and tie. “Took you long enough.” There was the barest twinkle in his eye, softening the wry statement.  
  
“I did have a better escape plan, but someone decided to mess that up.”  
  
The Doctor sniffed. “Dying is not an escape plan.”  
  
“It works pretty damned well, actually.”  
  
“And yet here we are, and no one died.” He flared his hands like a magician giving a flourish at the end of a particularly showy trick, and then pushed Jack aside as he strode into the corridor. “You need to stretch your thinking beyond your magic corpse act, Jack.”  
  
“We’re not out yet.” Jack picked up the gun from the floor and made down the corridor, but stopped when the Doctor began prying open a control panel on the wall. “What are you doing? We have to get out of here before they realize we’re free.”  
  
“Give me a mo’. I can access the magnetic seals from here and unlock all the cells.”  
  
“It’s not going to take them long to figure it out. Doctor, let’s go.”  
  
The Doctor gave Jack a sidelong look before going back to the nest of wires in his hands. “They’re torturing people. I could hear them. I can’t just leave them here.”  
  
The Doctor was squinting at the wires with exaggerated attention, far too careful and deliberate for the normal slap-dash efficiency that the Doctor normally exhibited. “Did they torture you?”  
  
“Nah, far too busy going on about my secret invasion force hell-bent on infiltrating their government. A real, live alien, and what do they care about? Regional disputes. Humans are all the same, no matter where you go. Find a bit of rock, kill anyone who looks at your rock.” He shook off his annoyance and shrugged as he yanked another six inches of bundled wire from the wall. He cut three of them on the sharp edge of the panel. “Tried to tell them it was just you and me, but they didn’t believe me. Nobody believes me anymore. Must be this face.” He stripped a wire with his teeth and spliced it with another, then pulled another set from the bundle.  
  
“Doctor, what did we drop into the middle of?”  
  
“I really don’t know. I just brought you for the meat pies.” The Doctor spliced another set of wires, and then he looked up at Jack. “Really, they’re very good. Bit spicy. Tastes a bit like nutmeg, but it works with the savouriness. You wouldn’t think so, but they’re brilliant. Sorry we didn’t get a chance to try them before being so rudely arrested.”  
  
Jack looked down the long row of doors, each leading to their own cell. He readied the rifle, taking up the best defensive position he could manage in the straight corridor. “Maybe we’ll get a chance later, if you make it quick and we get out of here.” There were a lot of doors on this corridor. While he was all in favour of springing the other prisoners, he was keen to make sure they didn’t sacrifice their own freedom in the cause.  
  
It was only a moment more, and then a resounding clang sounded through the building. The Doctor gave a loud whoop of triumph. Another flurry of action with the wires, and then he leaned into the speaker grill of the panel.  
  
“Hello everyone, this is the Doctor speaking! You may have noticed that your cell door just opened! I suggest you take advantage of that and get a move on. Make your way to the nearest exit at best possible speed.” The Doctor had wired the communications system, and his voice echoed through the long hallways. “And to those of you running this miserable place, and especially you, Commandant Peel: I suggest you run.” The Doctor leaned into the speaker. “Run very far, and very, very fast, because you will not like what happens if I catch you.” He was staring down the comm like he could see into the souls of the people on the other side, but then he smiled and his cheery tenor rang out, sharp and nasal. “Right, then! You have five minutes, then I’m blowing this place up. Cheers!” He spun to Jack and grinned. “Now we can go. Lead the way, O Captain, my Captain!”  
  
The Doctor took a step towards Jack and staggered. “Doctor?” Jack lowered the gun and watched uneasily as the Doctor shook his head and braced himself with a hand on the wall.  
  
“It’s nothing. Let’s go–I've done some creative reprogramming with their generator monitoring programs, and this place is going to explode spectacularly in a very short while. We have to make sure all the prisoners get out."  
  
It was an unsatisfactory answer, but it would have to wait. The Doctor sprinted off without missing a beat, and Jack followed. The next few minutes passed in a haze as the Doctor and Jack secured the main exit and ushered fleeing prisoners out. There were at least a hundred by Jack’s rough count, and they swamped guards and burst through security points through the sheer force of their numbers. No one was prepared for a mass prison break, and the pell-mell disorganization of it worked like a coordinated effort in smashing through the security. The facility had all the hallmarks of a quietly run holding facility, with small numbers of actual military staff. Political prisoners, objectors, the outspoken–whoever the government didn’t want around anymore. Floods of prisoners passed the doors, and as minutes ticked on, so did guards and staff, now only concerned with their own escape rather than anything else. Jack recognized the two terrorized medical technicians among the crowd, and he was glad someone had found them to let them escape.  
  
Grateful hands brushed Jack’s as people fled once they realized that he and the Doctor had orchestrated their escape. Wasn’t that just life with the Doctor–only there to have a poke around, and instead becoming a small stitch in the fabric of events. It was a reminder of the serendipity of life, and one of the reasons he looked forward to these jaunts with the Doctor. Well, that and the little dance his stomach still did whenever the Doctor showed up, if he were honest with himself. He looked up to smile at the Doctor across from him, but sobered when he saw the pale cast of the Doctor’s face.  
  
“Doctor, are you okay? What did they do to you?”  
  
“Drugged me, but it’s fine. Shouldn’t be a tick and I’ll have it filtered out of my system.” He waved away Jack’s concern with a casual flick of his wrist. “Come on, get a move on!” he shouted with cheery enthusiasm to two people that rounded a corner at a sprint, and clapped them on the backs as they ran through the open doors into the night beyond.  
  
“That’s it Doctor, we’ve got to go!” By Jack’s count, they had less than half a minute left of the Doctor’s five minute countdown.  
  
The Doctor let himself be dragged away, and he and Jack ran for the tree line. They made it just as a ball of heat roared out and the building exploded, knocking them to the ground with the force of the blast. The overloaded generators incinerated the structure, and the resulting concussion wave was impressive. Jack watched the flames, eyes dazzled by the light in the dark night. Around them, the sounds of people fleeing into the forest, and stunned staff of the facility were standing on the grounds, stunned and staring at the mess. The roof of the building caved in, and a gout of flame shot high into the night sky. He doubted they’d be launching an immediate response to the prison break, but it wouldn’t be long before someone took charge.  
  
“We crossed a river when we were transported here, not too long before we arrived,” Jack said. “I think if we follow that back, we’ll find the town where we left the TARDIS. It had a river flowing through it. Probably the same one.” He turned from the fire to see the Doctor leaning against a tree with his eyes closed. He looked completely tuned out of his surroundings. “Doctor, I hate to be a nag, but you’re starting to worry me.”  
  
The Doctor straightened. “River. Yes, right. Let’s get going, then."  
  
The Doctor oriented himself and started into the forest. Jack trailed behind him, unease heavy in his stomach. The Doctor's footsteps were weaving and unsteady, like a drunk on the stagger home from the pub. He wasn't surprised when the Doctor tripped over a root in a dark patch where the moon did not breach the dense forest canopy. The Doctor grunted as he went down, catching himself on hands and knees. Jack hooked a hand under an arm and helped him up.  
  
"Are you gonna talk to me now?"  
  
“Stop fussing,” the Doctor grumbled, brushing himself off. “I am fine.”  
  
“I’m not fussing, I’m justifiably concerned. Sit down before you fall down, will you?”  
  
“You’re clucking like a mother hen!” He slapped away Jack’s hands. “Leave it, I’m fine.”  
  
“I’m trying to help you!” Jack said, exasperated.  
  
“I said it's–“  
  
“If you say ‘fine’ one more time, I swear I’m gonna strangle you.” Jack raised a warning finger.  
  
“–nothing to worry about,” the Doctor finished tartly. “The drug they gave me has a tricky series of compounds, but I’ll have it sorted in no time.” The Doctor stepped away from Jack, steadier now. "In the meantime, let's get to the TARDIS and get out of here."  
  
Reluctantly, Jack nodded, and they continued on with Jack’s worries growing. The Doctor didn’t walk away. He was curious, or maybe it was plain mischievousness, but he always walked into the chaos, not away from it. Jack watched the Doctor with a sharp eye. The Doctor was wholly focused on placing his feet, but otherwise seemed steady, and they were making decent time. With luck, the Doctor would sort out his system, they'd make the TARDIS by morning, and all would be well.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are headed downhill, my friends.

The third moon was rising to join the others in the night sky, and their combined cold light filtered through the forest canopy that cast stark, inky shadows around them. Mercifully it was sparse ground cover, making for faster progress. Unfortunately the Doctor’s coordination was swiftly degrading, and he began to lose his footing more often than not. Another stumble knocked the Doctor to the ground again, and this time there was only a quiet grunt in response as he hit the ground.  
  
Jack tried to help him up, but the Doctor pulled away with irritation. “Stop it, Martha. I said I was fine.”  
  
Jack squatted next to the Doctor. “It’s Jack, actually. Though I bet I’d look great in those fantastic boots of hers.”  
  
The Doctor squeezed his eyes shut, and then opened them again. “Yes, of course. Hello.” He gave Jack a weak smile, then looked around the forest studiously. “Alluwatitia, 64th century. West continent, night cycle.”  
  
It sounded suspiciously like a mantra. “Come on, we’re near the river. I can hear it. Not much further to go.” Jack pulled the Doctor’s arm over his shoulder and heaved him upright.  
  
“I can manage,” the Doctor mumbled. Jack didn’t dignify that with a reply.  
  
Sure enough, the trees soon thinned into the flood banks of a wide river, deep enough to flow smooth and calm, providing cool and potable water. He helped the Doctor to the riverside, and they knelt down to scoop up the water gratefully. Jack stuck his face in the blessedly cool, sweet water, sucking down a deep draught. He raised his head and shook off the drops, feeling refreshed and more awake. He looked to the Doctor.  
  
The Doctor was on his hands and knees, hands planted in the shallow water and knees in the mud. The cuffs of his jacket dragged in the water, and his eyes were closed and his expression slack. Jack coaxed him back into a sitting position on the grass at the water’s edge.  
  
“Talk to me, Doctor.”  
  
“I can’t seem to isolate it.” The Doctor ground the heels of his hands against his eye sockets. His voice was heavy and slurred. “Not going to kill me. Don’t think, anyway.” He giggled, face still buried in his hands. “Interrogation drugs. Can you believe it? Bloody backward planet.”  
  
Jack laid his fingers on the pulse point at the Doctor’s neck. His hearts were beating strong and steady, if a little sluggish. “How much did they give you?”  
  
“Ooh, lots. Lots and lots and lots.” The Doctor raised his head and gave Jack a doleful, sloppy smile. “I can’t believe they found something that actually worked on my physiology. I’m impressed.”  
  
Jack gently took the Doctor’s jaw and angled his head. His eyes were dark and sleepy, pupils wide as saucers. “What else did they do?”  
  
The Doctor shrugged, staring at him with a bleary, unfocused gaze. “Y’know. Questions and injections. Quite a lot of injections. I think they were disappointed with the lack of results.”  
  
“The last injection was an hour ago? Two?”  
  
The Doctor rolled his eyes skyward, apparently deep in thought. “You know, I should be able to tell you to the millisecond, but it’s depressing my higher functions, so I have no idea. Roughly speaking though, yeah. I think I’ve managed to slow the drug down, if not completely block it.” He closed his eyes. “I don’t know how much longer that’s going to last, though.”  
  
“We’ll get you to the TARDIS as soon as we can. How do you feel? Are you in any pain?”  
  
“Been worse. Feels kind of nice, actually.” He finally focused on Jack and met his gaze, frank and earnest. He leaned forward as though imparting a secret. “Very floaty.”  
  
Jack sat back on his heels, doing his best to keep a straight face. “I suppose if you’ve been drugged to the gills against your will, you should at least get to feel nice. Floaty or otherwise.”  
  
The Doctor tipped forward as though moving to stand, but only ended up losing his balance and flopping against Jack. Face against Jack’s shoulder, he muttered something that Jack couldn’t decipher. Jack rested a hand at the back of the Doctor’s neck, feeling cold and clammy skin. The Doctor’s breath against his skin tickled, and after a while he started to wonder if the Doctor had fallen asleep against him. Jack rubbed the Doctor’s back, not sure what to do. They were a long way from the TARDIS, and very exposed if anyone came looking for them.  
  
Just as Jack was about to rouse him, the Doctor resurfaced. He blinked at Jack as though he had just woken up. “Sorry. I think the water helped a bit. Let’s get going, shall we?”  
  
Jack nodded. Nothing for it but to walk to the TARDIS. Jack slung the Doctor’s arm over his shoulder again and they set out once more, following the gentle curve of the river.  
  
  
***  
  
Interrogation drugs were tricky things. Jack had experience on both sides, as interrogator and subject. They loosened lips and lowered barriers, and left people in an easily suggestible state. Truth wasn’t always at the end of every question, but an interrogator could become an ally or a trusted friend, gaining access to secrets through a twisting path while the drugged person followed them in a guileless state. Frequently whatever came to mind would roll out of loose lips. Jack remembered one young solder who had talked half the night about the state of his sister’s marriage before they’d managed to get him focused on the subject of the alien craft his platoon had encountered. Sometimes people left reality completely, dwelling in twilight nightmare states, or flights of fantasy and twisted memories. It was an unpredictable process, which was why it ultimately fell out of fashion until more reliable methods were developed in the 22nd century. But in the 1960’s, every government was reaching for truth drugs as the magic bullet for everything from interrogation to employee reviews. Jack was happy to see that particular era behind him.  
  
The Doctor was steadily drawing deeper into the characteristic trance-like haze; however, instead of growing more talkative, he seemed to be saying less and less. Jack stopped and lowered the Doctor to the ground slowly, uncertain if he even realized they’d stopped.  
  
“Doctor?”  
  
There was a long pause. “Yeah, Jack.” His words were thick and slow.  
  
“You’re awfully quiet.”  
  
“If I start talking, I’m not going to stop.” The Doctor’s chin sunk to his chest and he started to sink backward. “You go on ahead. I need a minute.”  
  
“You really think I’m going to leave you here?” Jack caught him and tried to pull the Doctor back to sitting. “I’ll carry you back to the TARDIS if I have to.”  
  
“Just go!” The Doctor tried to push him off, but only succeeded in knocking himself off balance. He flopped backward onto the ground and let out a little groan. “Go, and let me have a lie down. Nice little psychedelic trip through the forest, and you can go get the TARDIS. She’ll help you come find me.”  
  
“Oh, no you don’t.” Jack slipped a hand under the Doctor’s head. “No giving up. We’re going to get back to the TARDIS together, okay?”  
  
“I’m not giving up,” the Doctor slurred as he rolled to the side. “I can’t hold it off. It’s a mess. Head’s coming apart. Don’t need an audience.”  
  
He rolled the Doctor onto his back again. “I promise to be gentle when I tease you about it in the future, okay?” He pulled the Doctor up and this time he didn’t resist. “Let’s keep at it. We have to be at least halfway there.”  
  
After a painful hour in which more time was spent pulling the Doctor up off the ground than actually walking, not to mention breaking up a strangely personal encounter the Doctor had with a tree he’d affectionately nicknamed Jabe, Jack needed a breather. The Doctor mumbled constantly under his breath, snatches of observations or comparisons to places he’d been, most of which Jack couldn’t place.  
  
Jack leaned on a tree root next to the Doctor, wiping sweat from his face and neck. “How you doing?”  
  
The Doctor squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again. “Terrible.”  
  
That managed to force a smile out of him, despite his exhaustion. “That truth serum must be working. Can’t imagine you admitting that under any other circumstances.”  
  
The Doctor rolled his head towards him and gave him a sleepy version of his usual chastising look. “You drive me mad.”  
  
“That’s what you pay me the big bucks for. But who else would drag your sorry butt through the forest? You know, if you kept me around more often, you’d never have to walk again.”  
  
The Doctor giggled, which dissolved into a loud snort. “I’d go insane, you here all the time.”  
  
“I have a gift, what can I say.” Jack stretched his stiff shoulder muscles.  
  
The Doctor continued as though Jack hadn’t spoken. “Jack Harkness, black hole of Time. Big, fat Fact. There’s nothing else when you’re around.” His words flowed like thick molasses, unchecked and careless. He tipped his head back and stared up at the tree canopy, giving another snort of wheezing laughter. “Just you, filling the whole sky. Whites me out for ages, just a few weeks with you.”  
  
Jack stared down at the Doctor, feeling a chill roll through him. His flippancy withered up and blew away, and he found himself speechless.  
  
The Doctor sighed, ribcage rising and falling. “It’s a relief.”  
  
Jack cleared his throat, speaking around a thick, dry tongue. “What is?”  
  
“It’s easier this way. So much easier… I can’t…” The Doctor’s voice dipped in and out of incomprehensible muttering, and Jack strained to catch his words, which sounded distressed. “I can’t feel it. You’re just Jack. I missed just Jack.”  
  
He’d always assumed the Doctor had gotten over the immortality thing, or that he’d exaggerated it in the first place. He’d never given any sign that he’d just learned to tolerate it. Whited him out? What did that even mean? Pushing aside his discomfort, Jack squatted down next to the Doctor. He stroked a hand over the Doctor’s forehead, pushing back damp hair. “I miss you too, sometimes. All those years between the times when I see you. But I guess this is why–” He cut himself off, not letting himself keep on that line of thought. This wasn’t the time. “But I always look forward to seeing you again, you know.”  
  
There was a long pause. “’M talking out loud, then.”  
  
“Afraid so.”  
  
“Bugger.”  
  
“Tell me about it.”  
  
The Doctor subsided, relaxing against the tree root and letting his head loll back. His lips still moving to form sub-vocalized words for a few more minutes, and then he fell into a light sleep. Jack worried at the inside of his lip as he watched over the Doctor. He really didn’t know what to think. His mind was going in pointless circles, chasing after the Doctor’s words. He still hadn't reached any conclusion when he realized he'd bitten a hole into the inside of his lip.  
  
He rubbed his hands over his face. This was doing him no good. There was no point in dwelling on it now; time to press on to the TARDIS, and think about this later.  
  
Jack took the opportunity to press two fingers to each side of the Doctor’s throat, looking for the beats of each heart. The Doctor stirred at the touch and swiped at Jack’s hands, and then heaved himself upright. “I have to go,” the Doctor muttered, lurching past him. He could barely keep his head upright. “I have to–”  
  
Jack caught him under the arms just as the Doctor tripped and went down. “Easy, now.”  
  
The Doctor flailed wildly. “Get off me!” The Doctor twisted in his grip, but only succeeded in throwing more of his weight on Jack. His pinstriped jacket rucked up, partially trapping his arms. “Gerroff! You have no idea who you’re dealing with!”  
  
“Right, terror of the Cluster Galaxies, that’s you,” Jack grunted, trying to firm up his hold on the Doctor’s body. One cartwheeling arm caught Jack hard across the chin, and he grimaced, dropping the Doctor. The Doctor rolled forward and tried to crawl away. Jack crouched on his hands and knees by the Doctor, cautious of any further jabs that might come his way.  
  
“It’s Jack. I’m right here, Doctor. We’re on our way to the TARDIS, but we’ve got a ways to go yet.”  
  
“Jack! Jack,” the Doctor panted, groping blindly on the ground for something. “Yes, TARDIS. They drugged me! Truth serum. Can you believe it?” He felt around on the round again. “My screwdriver. Just had it…”  
  
Jack rubbed his eyes tiredly and took the Doctor’s arm. “They seized it, remember?”  
  
The Doctor turned to a clumsy rifling of his own pockets. “No, it‘s here, I swear–”  
  
The Doctor’s state was steadily degrading, and Jack wanted to get him under the TARDIS medical scanners as soon as possible. Jack swiftly got hold of the Doctor and, amid sharp protests, got the Time Lord’s lanky body braced across his shoulders in a fireman’s carry.  
  
“You can’t be serious,” he heard the Doctor mutter.  
  
“Oh yeah. You’re never living this one down,” Jack said, slightly winded as he made is way through the forest. “You just hold on until we get to the TARDIS, okay?”  
  
The Doctor muttered some sniping comment under his breath, and Jack affected not to hear.  
  
One foot in front of the other, he trudged on, wishing he had some way of calculating the distance or direction. He was certain they were headed in the right general direction, but he wouldn’t be able to get a proper read until the sun came up and he could get a look at the mountains. Tirradon, the town where they’d left the TARDIS, lay nestled in a valley between two hills and was on the river, so should be easy to find.  
  
The Doctor’s muttering had faded and he was still on Jack’s shoulders, limp and unresponsive with lack of varied stimulus to prompt any particular response. It wasn’t long before they stumbled into a clearing, which marked the edge of a small settlement. Head down and muscles burning, Jack was a fair ways from cover before he realized this fact.  
  
Jack backpedalled quickly, trying to get them back to cover, but before he could so much as turn, a light flashed and blinded him–a torch, pointed directly in his eyes. It was followed by the unmistakable click of a firearm being primed.  
  
“Stop right there.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wherein Jack does some fancy improvising.

Jack squinted into the torchlight, but couldn’t make out the owner of the voice behind it. He couldn’t see anything beyond the blinding light. He heard shuffling footsteps and the light wavered.  
  
“What are you doing here?” The voice was nervous and unsteady.  
  
Clearly not a soldier, then. It didn’t make him any safer–a nervous person with a gun was far more dangerous than someone with training and experience with weapons. He made a show of gesturing his head towards the Doctor on his shoulders.  
  
“I don’t mean any harm. I’m trying to get medical attention for my friend,” Jack said calmly, trying to broadcast friendly concern.  
  
The beam of light shifted to focus on the Doctor’s face briefly, then flicked back to Jack. “Where did you come from?” The voice was male, age indeterminate.  
  
Jack hedged, not certain what tack to take to best sell a story to this man. Normally he’d have a bit more to read a person than a voice.  
  
Before he could answer, the Doctor chose that moment to wiggle his feet and let out a short wheeze of laughter, catching Jack by surprise. “My knight in shining armour. He rescued me!” His words were garbled and heavily slurred, but clear enough.  
  
Jack staggered under the Doctor’s shifting weight, and had to kneel to the ground as his balance tipped. He rolled the Doctor off his shoulders and onto the soft carpet of grass. The Doctor was breathing shallowly, skin damp with sweat, eyes vacant. When Jack tried to prop him up, his head rolled back loosely. His condition had rapidly declined in the short time he’d been carrying him.  
  
“He’s delirious,” Jack said, looking up into the light, throwing caution to the wind in favour of food and shelter, and possibly medical assistance. They could deal with consequences as they came. “He needs water, some simple food. Can you help us?”  
  
There was the sound of more uneasy shuffling. “I–I don’t know. We’re not–“  
  
From the dark shape of a house behind, a door slammed open. A weak yellow light spilled through the doorway, and the torch owner turned in response. Jack caught the impression of a gardened yard, and a low fence surrounding a groomed property, and a road beyond.  
  
“What are you doing?”  
  
“Marice, get back in the–“  
  
“Are you all right?” The woman, Marice, brushed past the man and knelt opposite Jack at the Doctor’s side. She brushed the hair back off his forehead, and gasped. “Oh god, he’s ice cold! How long have you two been out there? Was your villa attacked as well?”  
  
Jack looked up at her, finding a pleasant, concerned expression. She was middle-aged, on the well-fed side, groomed in a way that spoke of wealth and privilege. Bless her for feeding him his line. His conman instincts took hold and Jack softened his expression, playing to her expectations. “Yes. We got out with our lives, but…” He looked down at the Doctor, allowing his real concern and fear to leak into his voice. “He’s been getting worse. We were trying to make it to Tirradon, in the south. We have family there.”  
  
Marice gasped, whirling to look behind her at the man with the torch. “That’s–goodness, that’s miles and miles away! You were going to carry him there?” She turned back to him in disbelief.  
  
Jack shrugged, looking dejectedly down at the Doctor. “What else could I do?”  
  
She rose and dusted off her knees, then placed her hands on her hips. “We can at least offer you shelter for the night. ComNet went down just a few hours ago, so there’s no way to contact anyone, but it’ll probably be up by morning.” She turned around with impatient authority. “Well, Jann? Help get him in the house.”  
  
Jann approached, torch pointed at the ground, and Jack was able to finally see the man properly. He was thin, face pinched with worry, hair gone grey around the edges. He clutched a handgun tightly in one hand–Jack would have been surprised if he’d ever fired it before, let alone shot someone.  
  
“I’m sorry,” Jann said, looking at Jack and quickly away. “You know what it’s like right now. I was out getting wood for the fire, and you startled me.” He waved the gun sheepishly. “I’ve been carrying it everywhere lately.”  
  
Jack nodded. “I understand. Would have done the same myself.” He offered a small, sincere smile, then looked down at the Doctor. “Dangerous times.”  
  
“Jack.” The Doctor blinked lazily and slowly focused on him, as though he were swimming up from the bottom of a deep pool. His hand pawed at Jack’s sleeve. “Hello, Jack.”  
  
“Shh, don’t talk, just relax,” Jack said quietly, praying the Doctor wouldn’t say anything to give their game away. He smoothed and patted the Doctor’s cheek to distract him, and Marice looked on with sympathy. Jann looked away, as though embarrassed by the show of emotion.  
  
“You’re not a black hole. Just a bit stuck…and permanent’s okay. ‘S okay with me, you know? But don’t die. Blimey, it hurts when you die.” His words gained speed as his confession spewed forth. “Time–I mean, the Vortex–“  
  
He had no idea where the Doctor was headed, but Jack needed to shut him up. The less they gave their hosts to think about and question, the better. Topics such as the Vortex, the Doctor’s sense of time, and Jack’s immortality were definitely subjects best left untouched.  
  
The Doctor drew another breath, and unable to simply clap a hand over his mouth, Jack drew him close and kissed him before he could speak. The Doctor’s muttered words continued into his mouth for a moment, then trailed off. There was the faintest motion of a returned kiss, and Jack pulled back. He tried to brush away the guilt as the Doctor looked up at him, bewildered and disoriented.  
  
“I’m sorry,” he whispered into the Doctor’s ear. “Sorry.”  
  
“I know,” the Doctor sighed, then rolled his head against Jack’s chest. “I know, I know I know…” His repetition trailed off to a mumble against Jack’s shirt.  
  
Jack looked up to find Marice watching them with large, sad eyes, completely invested in a story she was writing for herself with barely any help from Jack. Were he still in the con game, these two would have made easy marks. Still, if it got them some shelter and supplies, and perhaps access to a vehicle of some kind, so much the better.  
  
She gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m sure he’ll be alright.”  
  
Jann looked around nervously. “I think we should get inside. There are too many troublemakers out after curfew these days. The random looting is out of control.”  
  
Marice nodded, and Jann tucked the gun into the belt at the back of his trousers, handed the torch to his wife and knelt down to help Jack hoist the Doctor upright. They dragged the Doctor into the house together, with Marice leading the way.  
  
It was the middle of the night, so odds were good that the couple would be asleep soon. Jack could scout for a vehicle, or anything that would help them get to the TARDIS faster.  
  
  
***  
  
  
The house was well-cared for and decked with all the modern conveniences, but had the feel of a summer or holiday home, rather than a lived-in family space. It had an upstairs and a basement, connected by a wrapping staircase, and a large warmly lit open main level. Jack’s eyes darted to the corner when someone stirred from an armchair, standing to meet them as they entered.  
  
“Who’s this?” The young woman approached them, tossing her book on the table, a note of suspicion in her voice and demeanour. Jack noted that she was much more practically dressed than the older couple, in work shirt and trousers, with short-cropped dark hair and no makeup or adornments. She didn’t match her surroundings, which immediately put Jack on edge. This was going to be hard enough sell to pull off with the Doctor’s altered state; he didn’t need unexpected elements tossed in.  
  
“Annik, not now. We found them outside — they had some problems in the riots, same as the neighbours.” Marice turned back to look at Jack. “You’re from the villas on the other side of the lake?”  
  
“Er, yes. Just bought in, new to the area.” Jack said. Looked as though the Doctor had dropped in for pasties in the start of a full blown rebellion. Wasn’t that just typical. This quick jaunt was becoming a real doozy. He’d have to speak to the Doctor about his choice of quiet eateries–his research needed some work.  
  
“Just arrived. Here for the Olympic ceremonies,” The Doctor muttered as he shifted, trying to get his feet under him, and Jack winced.  
  
The young woman gave them a sharp look. “What’s olympic? What ceremonies?”  
  
Jack firmed up his grasp on the Doctor, shaking his head dismissively. “He’s delirious. He hasn’t been making much sense for the last few hours,” Jack said. He looked over at Jann, who looked like he was trying to avoid touching the Doctor as much as possible while still holding up his side, and his small frame was swamped by the Doctor’s gangly limbs. “I think we’d better get him lying down. Is there somewhere?”  
  
“Yes, of course. This way,” Marice said, directing them to a hallway off the main area.  
  
She led them to a spare room, which had the personality-free yet tasteful trimmings one would expect to find in a hotel room. The Doctor moaned when they lowered him onto the bed, rolling onto his side and tucking in on himself. Jann stood back, arms folded, and Marice reappeared in the room with a pitcher of water and cloth in one hand, a glass in the other, and a basin tucked under one arm. She set the lot down on the bedside table and handed the cloth to Jack.  
  
“I can fix you a plate, if you like. Maybe some soup for your husband?”  
  
Jack smiled gratefully at her, not bothering to correct her assumptions. “That would be lovely, thank you.” He poured the water into the basin. “Who’s the girl downstairs?” he asked.  
  
“Ah, that’s our daughter.” She smiled politely, though there was tension behind it. “She was home for a visit when all the violence broke out.” Marice hesitated, looking over at her husband, and something unspoken travelled between them. Jack kept busy with wetting the cloth and pouring water into the glass while watching the odd exchange from the corner of his eye.  
  
“I’m going to see if I can find a first aid kit,” Jann said, and quickly left the room.  
  
“And I’ll see to the food,” Marice said brightly, dismissing the tension from her expression.  
  
Jack looked up and gave her a sincere smile. “Thank you for your hospitality. I don’t know what we would have done.”  
  
“Well, we have to stick together, don’t we?” Marice said gently. “If we don’t help each other, we’re no better than them.” The last was said with a jerk of her chin to indicate the world outside, and the unknown assailants terrorizing the neighbourhood.  
  
He nodded in agreement, then turned back to the Doctor, leaning across him to wipe the sweat from his face. Behind him, he heard Marice turn and leave. When they were alone, he pulled the Doctor towards him and rolled him onto his back. His eyes were open but unfocused, and he blinked when Jack wiped at his skin again with the damp cloth. Jack felt for his pulse. It was still reassuringly strong, his chest still rising and falling steadily with each breath. The Doctor was falling deeper into the medicated trance, passive and compliant.  
  
Jack sat at his side and leaned forward to speak into his ear. “Doctor? Can you hear me?”  
  
“Mmm.” The Doctor blinked again.  
  
“We’re safe, for now. You need to relax, and try to keep quiet.”  
  
Jack had to strain to hear the Doctor’s answer. “Can’t hear the TARDIS.”  
  
He frowned. “What do you mean?”  
  
“She’s always there,” he said, voice rising. “She’s gone. Can’t hear her. Brain’s offline.” He rolled to his side again, curling around Jack’s side. “She’s gone.”  
  
“Who’s she?” The voice cut into their conversation. Annik, the daughter, was in the doorway with a large grey box in her arms.  
  
Jack had no idea how long she’d been standing there, and what she’d heard. More to the point, what she’d made of it. “Like I said, he’s not making much sense right now.”  
  
She took a step into the room. “I had my own medkit in my truck. Thought I’d bring it in. I have some rehydration tablets, at the least. Given the way he’s sweating, they might help.” She brought the box around to the other side of the bed and set it down.  
  
So, a vehicle he could get his hands on. Just a matter of biding their time until the family were asleep so they could leave without arousing suspicion. They could make it to Tirradon and the TARDIS before the family woke up and noticed their absence, and they’d be safely gone by the time they reported the theft to the authorities. The Doctor’s state seemed to have stabilized, and Jack hazarded a guess that he could wait and handle the extra hour or two necessary to facilitate a clean getaway.  
  
“Here.” From the cluttered interior of the kit, Annik pulled out a small foil packet and offered it to Jack. He took it and felt the hard lump of a tablet inside. “You can dissolve it in the water.”  
  
Jack took the packet and inspected it. No chemical compound listed on the packet. The last thing he needed was a reaction with the drugs already in the Doctor’s system. “He has a lot of allergies. I think I’ll wait a bit, see if he pulls through on his own.” He tucked it into his pocket. “Thank you.”  
  
Annik’s brow creased, and she glanced down at the Doctor. “Fine. I suppose if he’s still sweating, he’s not dehydrated yet.” She sat on the bed, putting a hand out to the Doctor’s forehead.  
  
“He’s okay. I think he just needs some rest,” Jack said firmly. She seemed entirely too nosy for his tastes.  
  
Annik paused. The edges of her mouth turned down, either in concern or sympathy. “I’m not going to hurt him. I’m only trying to help.”  
  
He smiled politely, nodding. “I know, but–“  
  
“Susan?” The croaking voice drew their attention to the Doctor. He squinted up at Annik, and grasped the wrist of Annik’s outstretched hand.  
  
Annik gently pulled his hand off and clasped it between hers. “No, Annik. Who’s Susan, love?” She spoke to the Doctor kindly, with the air of a doctor or nurse.  
  
“My granddaughter.” The Doctor sighed heavily, and rolled his head towards Annik, trying to focus his eyes. “Not Susan.”  
  
Annik’s eyebrows shot up as she glanced at Jack, then back to the Doctor. She gave him a bare smile. “Looking rather fit for a grandpa, love.”  
  
“My Susan. Beautiful, she was. Had hair like yours.” The Doctor’s voice was dreamy. “Don’t know if she ever regenerated. Maybe her hair changed.” His eyes drifted closed. “Died with all the rest. All of them, gone…”  
  
His words faded into mumbling, and his eyes opened to stare vacantly at the ceiling. Annik’s gaze rose to meet Jack’s, disturbed and wary. She placed the Doctor’s hand back on the bed.  
  
“What’s he talking about? Who is Susan?”  
  
Jack shook his head. “He was a writer. I think he’s lost in his stories.”  
  
She looked dissatisfied with his answer, and crossed her arms. “Look, I don’t–“  
  
“Annik, we told you not to bother them!” Jann bustled into the room, hauling a household first aid kit with him. “I’m sorry, um…“  
  
“Jack,” he supplied.  
  
“Yes, right.” Jann placed the kit on the floor next to Jack’s feet, then rose with an anxious air. “I don’t know what she said, but we, as a family, do support–”  
  
Annik stood up quickly, her disgust apparent. “Save it, Dad. I was offering some rehydration packets from my kit.” She closed the box and turned to Jack. “I’ll leave it here, in case you need anything.” She turned and left the room.  
  
Jann watched her go, then crossed his arms and turned back to Jack. “We’ve had some differences of opinion, lately. You do understand. Young people, they get ideas. Doesn’t mean anything.” His look to Jack had an edge of desperation. The consequences of being a dissenter in this place and time were apparently high, and he was obviously keen to protect his daughter. “She’s a good girl, just a bit misled.”  
  
Jack smiled kindly. “Doesn’t seem like someone who’s easily led anywhere.”  
  
Jann’s relief at Jack’s easy tone was palpable. He chuckled and nodded, and Jack could see the faint sheen of parental pride lurking under his worry. “Yes, well. Her mother’s daughter. She’s discovered politics, thinks she’s reinvented the world.” He grew serious. “But she’ll grow up. She’s outspoken, but we’re a Regency household, here. I hope you understand that.”  
  
He nodded. “Of course. Like anyone.” If Annik were an Objector, he could see why Jann and Marice were nervous. A careless word to the wrong people, and they could find themselves the recipients of the attentions of the Regency. At least the facility they’d left in ashes wouldn’t be interning anyone else for their political beliefs.  
  
Unbidden, a yawn overtook Jack. Before he could excuse himself, Jann was backing out of the room. “I’ll let you rest.”  
  
Just then Marice arrived with the food. After some fussing, Jann coaxed her to leave the food on the side table and give their sudden guests some privacy. Jack shot Jann a grateful look as he hustled his wife out the door.  
  
He managed to get a few bites of food into the Doctor, and wolfed down the fruits and bread on the plate for himself. It was late; he surely wouldn’t have long to wait before the family was in bed, and they could make their move. Just a matter of waiting, and possibly enduring and deflecting more of Marice’s well-meaning attentions.  
  
With a full belly, Jack’s weariness quickly overtook him. It wouldn’t hurt to rest while he had a quiet moment. He nudged the Doctor over to make space on the bed and lay down behind him, draping an arm over the Doctor. He settled his hand flat against the Doctor’s chest between the slow beat of his hearts.  
  
Jack closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep to the reassuring, steady rhythm.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Requisite 'awkward things happen in bed' scene, and then Jack tries to get them on the road again. Unfortunately, it's not that easy...

Jack awoke, disoriented, to something crawling on his face. It took another second of consciousness to realize that it was the Doctor touching him; he had turned in Jack’s arms and Jack was pinned by his heavy weight. The Doctor was stroking his face with clumsy fingers, limbs intimately tangled up with his, and his lips were pressed against Jack’s ear, murmuring words in a language he couldn’t understand. It was soothing, in a fumbling sort of way, and once he was past his alarmed confusion Jack drifted in the fuzzy borderlands of sleep, listening to the Doctor’s soft voice. But when a wet tongue swiped his earlobe, Jack was fully awake in an instant.  
  
If he hadn’t been so bone tired, careless, and worried, he might have given some thought to the consequences before curling up pressed against the Doctor. He’d duped the Doctor’s addled senses into this confused intimacy.  
  
Though he didn’t recognize the language, Jack could still hear the clumsy slurring in the shape and flow. He captured the Doctor’s hand and pulled it from his face, and the Doctor twisted his hand to lace their fingers together. The Doctor mouthed at the sensitive skin below his ear and Jack squeezed his eyes shut. He should get up and stop this. The Doctor sighed, repeating a word several times. It must have been a name, though he couldn’t be certain.  
  
“Koschei,” the Doctor breathed again, nuzzling into Jack’s neck. Jack turned his head away, the gnawing guilt rising at his stealing affection meant for someone else. God knows what he’d give to have the Doctor whisper his name like that. Whoever it was, he hoped they appreciated it.  
  
He cleared his throat. “Doctor.” The Doctor’s slight movements slowly came to a halt, and Jack could fairly hear the gears grinding in his head. “Doctor, it’s Jack. Do you know where you are?”  
  
“Jack?”  
  
“That’s right. We’re on Alluwatitia. You’ve been drugged.” He kept his words brief, giving the Doctor clear signposts to find his way back to reality. He should have also separated himself from the Doctor, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to pull away.  
  
The Doctor clenched and then relaxed his fingers. “I was...”  
  
“I know. I’m sorry.” There was a long pause, followed a confused noise. Jack disentangled his hand and checked the Doctor’s pulse. Still sluggish. He gently rolled the Doctor’s head back to check his eyes again. His pupils were still wide, gaze glazed over. Whatever the interrogators had given the Doctor, it had yet to peak in his system. “I’m here. You’re okay.”  
  
The Doctor closed his eyes. “You should get out of here. Get to the TARDIS.”  
  
“I’m not leaving you. It’s not up for discussion. We’ll be moving on soon.”  
  
“Get out of here.”  
  
“No.”  
  
“You’re an idiot.”  
  
“Yeah, I am.” Jack laughed quietly.  
  
The Doctor brought a hand up to Jack’s face again, examining him. “You remind me of him. Uncompromising.”  
  
The Doctor whispered that name again, and the spark of lucidity faded. Jack let the Doctor’s fingers crawl across his cheeks and over his lips, his eyes and fingers exploring someone who wasn’t there. Soon his attention drifted and his hand dropped away, his gaze turning inward.  
  
Jack pulled away from the Doctor and rolled to sitting. Hours had passed while he had slept, and the moons had set, leaving the room black–still no sign of sunrise. A light from the hall cast a shadow from under the door, and the food plates had been taken away while he slept, blissfully unaware of people coming and going from the room. He’d been more exhausted than he’d realized. But now the house was silent and it was time to leave. Any minute, he’d get on with that.  
  
He sat staring at the dark wall for a time, before finally standing to scout the house and find the truck that Annik had mentioned.  
  
  
***  
  
  
The hallway was dimly lit by a small lamp on a narrow table. Jack skirted along the wall, listening carefully for any signs of life from Jann, Marice, and Annik. The upper floor the guest room was on had a few other doors, but they were a library and a toilet, but no family bedrooms.  
  
The top of the wooden staircase creaked when he stepped on it, and he winced. He trod as lightly as he could down the steps. The main living area also had a small lamp lighting the space, spilling a little yellow circle over the corner and casting long shadows. He turned his back on the living room and wandered into the kitchen. A door in the kitchen led to the side of the house facing the road. A cabinet was pushed up against it as a makeshift barricade. Whatever trouble had struck the neighbourhood, it hadn’t yet passed. That, or their hosts were far more paranoid than he’d given them credit for.  
  
Jack leaned across the cabinet and pushed aside a lilac curtain to peer out. Under the faint starlight he could make out a vehicle parked outside of the house.  
  
“Need something?”  
  
Jack looked back over his shoulder. Annik stood at the entrance to the kitchen. He dropped the curtain and straightened. “No, just looking outside. Trying to get my bearings. Got a bit turned around in the woods.”  
  
“Yeah, right.”  
  
“What are you doing up? Must be late.”  
  
“Almost dawn.” She held up a book clutched in one hand. “Couldn’t sleep. Sitting up and reading.”  
  
Jack turned and leaned against the cabinet. “Oh, yeah? Anything good?”  
  
She dropped it on the counter. “It’s fiction. I’m sure you’d like it.”  
  
He didn’t much like the sound of that. He stifled a sigh. Was a simple, quiet getaway really too much to ask? He really hoped he wouldn’t have to hurt the girl to get out of here. He shrugged. “I’m not much into fiction.”  
  
“How about fantasy, then?” Annik flipped on the light in the kitchen, and Jack squinted at the sudden bright light. “Because there is no way the two of you are from the villas.”  
  
Jack sighed, pushing off the cabinet and moving toward her. “Now, I–”  
  
Annik stepped back, and her father’s gun materialized in her hand. She pointed it at Jack. “Stop. Stay over there.”  
  
Jack stopped, spreading his hands wide. “I really don’t want to hurt you or your family. I only want to take my friend and leave.”  
  
“Friend, now. Not husband.”  
  
“Doesn’t mean I care for him any less.”  
  
She licked her lips and adjusted the grip on the gun. She was no more comfortable with the weapon than her father. “No, I suppose not.”  
  
“You don’t need that. You and your family have been very kind to us. We’ll just go, and won’t cause you any more problems.” Jack took a slow, careful step closer to her, and she shifted her footing nervously. “I’d like to go get him, and we can leave. Would you let me do that?”  
  
The muzzle of the gun dipped. Her eyes briefly flickered to the side as she considered his words, and Jack seized the opportunity. He lunged forward and ripped the gun from her hand. Annik gasped and stumbled back, but he got hold of her and twisted her, pinning her arms to her sides and throwing an arm across her mouth before she could scream. She struggled violently against him, but she was much smaller than he was and he managed to hold her easily.  
  
“Annik–Annik, listen to me. I am not going to hurt you, and I mean that.” He shuffled them forward into the darkened living room, trying to maneuver her into an open space where her flailing wouldn’t send them knocking into walls or furniture. Last thing he needed was her parents waking up right now. She was already losing steam in the fight, and she’d started whimpering, body shaking in fear. He shushed her. “Sweetheart, I am not going to hurt you. If you promise me to keep quiet and have a seat on the couch here, I’ll let you go and we can talk. Okay?”  
  
He waited for his words to get through, and after a few quiet seconds, she nodded. When he released her she pushed away from him, stumbling forward and groping for the edge of the couch. For a second he thought she was going to start screaming, but she sank onto the arm of the couch, quiet and terrified wide eyes watching him. All of her bravado had disappeared. He tucked the gun into the waistband of his trousers, waiting for her to collect herself.  
  
“You’re–” her voice cracked and failed. She cleared her throat and wiped a hand across her eyes. “You’re strong. Didn’t expect you to be quite that fast, though.”  
  
He chuckled, surprised by her levity. “What were you doing up? Why the gun?”  
  
She glanced at a darkened electronic screen fixed to the wall. “I was listening to the news tonight. They reported that the high security prison in Pathion county had been attacked.”  
  
Jack frowned. “And yet your parents invited total strangers into their house.”  
  
“They didn’t see it, and I didn’t mention it. They don’t watch the news anymore–they say it’s too depressing.” Her voice had steadied now, and she folded her arms, hands tucked tightly under her armpits. “There were all kinds of reports flying about the Regency fumbling the response, and then ComNet cut off, like someone had pulled the plug. Four hours later, you show up–about as long as it would take to walk from there.”  
  
“Interesting timing,” Jack said. Apparently the Regency didn’t take kindly to public criticism of their security. Or perhaps they couldn’t afford to allow anyone to see their weakness.  
  
“I thought so.” She looked around the quiet room, then settled back on Jack. “Did you come from there?”  
  
He waffled on what to tell her, then nodded, deciding he’d get much more mileage out of the truth. “Yeah. We escaped. Wrongfully arrested in the first place, I might add.”  
  
Annik snorted. “You and everyone else in prison right now. They arrest you for sneezing.”  
  
“Not a fan of the Regency, then?” He thought of her father’s stumbling apologies on her behalf.  
  
She looked like she was going to spit on the ground at his feet. “No.” Her eyes darted to the stairs leading to the second level. “And him? What’s wrong with him?”  
  
“They drugged him. Tortured him.”  
  
She paled. “I–god. I knew they said they did things like that, but I didn’t actually think…” She swallowed, and Jack waited for her to collect herself. “Where are you going to take him?”  
  
“We’ve got transport in Tirradon. After that, we get as far away from here as we can. Best if you don’t know more than that.” He came forward and crouched near her feet, and took her hand. “We need to get out of here. Can we use your vehicle? It’ll get us there faster. I’m worried about my friend, and I can get him medical attention in Tirradon.”  
  
She looked down at him, uncertain. Jack waited and let her work through her own thoughts, holding her gaze, willing her to reach a favourable conclusion. Before Annik could answer, however, the sound of a commotion on the street had them both on their feet in an instant. A distant thudding broke the otherwise still night, and then the sound of raised voices and pounding on a door. Annik ran into the kitchen, and in an instant reappeared.  
  
“Regents. A squad at the neighbours’ place,” she whispered.  
  
Jack moved to the back door that faced the forest, where they’d come in when they’d first arrived. It was still dark, but there was the long stretch of ground with no cover between the house and the tree line where he and the Doctor would be completely exposed.  
  
“You can hide upstairs. I can get rid of them.”  
  
Jack looked back. Annik was pacing anxiously. He shook his head. “You don’t have to do that. We can make a run for it.”  
  
“Let me do this. I’ve wanted–” She swallowed, but then rallied her nerves and kept going, looking terrified but exhilarated. “I’ve wanted to join the Objectors for ages now, and I’m going to, but I haven’t yet. Let me do this. I can do it, I can help you.”  
  
Jack groaned inwardly. She had a naive shine to her, as though this were a high-stakes game of hide-and-seek instead of a dangerous situation where someone could get hurt. He didn’t want put this girl and her family in the way of danger, but his options were decidedly limited. In the back hall, Jack could hear the sleepy and confused sounds of Marice and Jann rousing from their beds. This was getting messy.  
  
Annik pushed him toward the stairs. “Trust me, I won’t let them know you’re here. My parents won’t either.”  
  
“Won’t let who know?” Marice came into the living room, belting her robe. Her eyes were shining with fear. “Annik, what’s going on?”  
  
“There’s a Regency squad outside, at Phara and Mal’s place. Mum, we haven’t seen anyone tonight, have we?”  
  
Marice looked from her daughter to Jack, and he could see the penny drop. “Oh my god, are they looking for you?” She hurried to Annik, trying to pull her to the kitchen. “Did you know this? Did you know when they came here? Is that why they came here?”  
  
“Mum, you’re the one who invited them in!” Annik pushed back at her mother, but Marice hooked her fingers around Annik’s bicep and held on, pulling a sharp yelp from the young woman.  
  
“This is not a joke,” Marice hissed. “This isn’t some political club you play at. This is your life, your family’s life. Go get the Regents.”  
  
“No, Mum! I won’t, you–”  
  
Annik’s protest faltered when her mother shook her, fairly hissing with frantic fury. “You do not throw everything away for some stupid game. This isn’t like dropping out of school, you don’t get to run away from the consequences. Do you hear me? You are still my child, and in this house you will do as I say! Go get the Regency officers! If they want them, they can have them!”  
  
“Marice, let her go.” Jann spoke from the hall. He had dark circles under his eyes in the dim light when he looked at Jack. “I assume if you wanted to harm us, we’d be dead in our beds already.”  
  
Jack shook his head. “ I don’t mean you any trouble.”  
  
He crossed to Marice and gently put a hand on her shoulder. She let go of Annik, who stumbled back from her parents, arms hugged around herself. “Even if we turn you over,” Jann said, “if they find you in our house, we’ll be accused of harbouring criminals.”  
  
“I promised we’d hide them,” Annik said. She was cowed by her mother’s anger. “I said we’d keep them safe.”  
  
“Why? Do you know anything about them?” Marice’s voice shook. Annik shook her head, and Marice glared at Jack. “Why did you come here?”  
  
“We just want to get on our way. I’m sorry we’ve gotten you involved in this.” Jack glanced up the stairs to where the Doctor is. “Please. If I could, I’d take him and run. But we don’t stand a chance with him in the state he’s in.”  
  
“Mum, he said they tortured him.”  
  
Marice closed her eyes, forehead creased. “I don’t care. I don’t. My concern is you and your father, and keeping us safe. Can you understand that?”  
  
Booted footsteps sounded on the walk outside, and voices came closer.  
  
It was Jann that spoke to Jack. “Get upstairs. For your sake, for the sake of everyone in this house, keep quiet.” Marice was white, and Annik looked thoroughly lost. Jack nodded, and bolted up the stairs. It was the best he was going to get–at least they had a personal stake in keeping them hidden, and that was something he could trust far more than any altruism on their parts. And he still had the gun, if things didn’t go according to plan.  
  
He glanced back down the stairs and saw Annik being folded into the arms of her mother and father, bowing her head and crying in fear against her father’s chest. Whatever stance she wanted to take for her beliefs, tonight was not the night to fight the battle. Perhaps after this she’d know whether revolution was in her blood. He hoped, for hers and her parents’ sake, that war left them long before any of them were forced to find out.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this might be my favourite chapter, but it's hard to say. One chapter left after this, which I'll post on Sunday.

Jack quietly shut the door to the bedroom door behind him. The Doctor was a dark shape on the bed, still mercifully asleep. He quickly scouted the room. There was a small closet that was full of old coats and boxes. No room to hide one person, let alone two. He was going to have to depend on the family’s ability to send the squad away. Jack pulled the gun from his pocket and checked the ammunition. It was a full set of sixteen shots, likely never fired. The squad was likely no more than five or six. If it came to it, he could blast his way through them.  
  
The loud thump of the door opening downstairs travelled through the house, and the Doctor started on the bed. Jack hurried to his side, taking his hand. “Hey there, Doc. It’s alright, I’m here.”  
  
Booted footsteps clomped on the main floor, and the Doctor rolled towards Jack, coming face to face with the gun resting in Jack’s lap. “No, no!” He recoiled, and Jack hastily slipped his hand down over the edge of the bed to get the gun out of sight. Shit.  
  
He held onto the Doctor’s other hand tightly, not letting him pull away lest he clatter off the far side of the bed. “We have to stay quiet. If we stay quiet, we can go home.” He was fighting a losing battle. The tighter he gripped the Doctor’s hand, the more the Doctor struggled. Jack tucked the gun into his pocket and grabbed the Doctor’s other flailing hand. It was turning into a wrestling match.  
  
“We can’t go home. We promised them temporal grace!” The Doctor’s breath was coming in short gasps, his words stuttering. He struggled against Jack, twisting the bedclothes under him. “If we leave, Arcadia falls! We have to help them!”  
  
The name Arcadia rung a bell, but Jack couldn’t place it. Jack swore when the Doctor twisted and tried to lurch off the bed with single-minded determination. He twisted the Doctor’s arms behind him and pinned him face-down to the bed. He whispered in the Doctor’s ear as loud as he dared. “You aren’t on Arcadia, you are on Alluwatitia. You’re with me, with Jack. Come on, Doctor. I need you to pull it together.”  
  
“I have to stop–!”  
  
Jack closed a hand over the Doctor’s mouth and strengthened his hold, silencing the Doctor. The Doctor twisted and bucked as he tried to free himself. He was deep enough in the throes of his hallucination or flashback that Jack’s words were completely lost on him. He clawed at Jack as though his life depended on it. He’d never seen the Doctor raise a finger against anyone, let alone fight hand-to-hand, but even disoriented and weakened, the Doctor put up a valiant fight. He tried to break Jack’s hold with several modified Venutian aikido moves, but he was still too disoriented to get any power behind it. It figured that if the Doctor did know any form of fighting, it would be a form solely devoted to the principles of self-defense.  
  
Jack could still hear voices downstairs, and no sound in the hall or on the stairs. That wouldn’t last for long if the Doctor kept kicking up such a fuss. He needed the Doctor still. Something that would make him want to hide and keep quiet. He managed to get near the Doctor’s ear again.  
  
“Daleks. They’re outside. They’ll hear you.”  
  
The Doctor’s struggles ceased. His breath was harsh, sucking in and out through his nose and blowing across the back of Jack’s hand.  
  
Jack leaned his forehead against the back of the Doctor’s head, praying for the Doctor’s forgiveness even as he whispered the name of the one thing he’d ever seen that had ever made the Doctor shiver with fear. “Daleks, Doctor. If we’re not quiet, they’re going to find us.”  
  
He could feel the trembling against him, but the Doctor was silent. After a moment, he gave a jerky nod. Jack cautiously removed his hand.  
  
“They breached the Citadel.” The Doctor’s voice was a bleak, muddy whisper.  
  
Jack wasn’t sure what that meant, but he nodded. “Yes.”  
  
The Doctor buried his face in the bedding. Jack’s restraint turned into an embrace, and he felt a silent sob shudder through the Doctor’s body.  
  
There was a loud bang that made them both jump. The sound of boots on floorboards. Pottery smashed, followed by an angry voice–Annik, by the sounds of it. A slam, and then hurried steps on the stairs.  
  
Jack rolled off the bed and scrambled for the gun. He was on his feet, gun poised, when the door flew open. Annik stumbled in, then pinwheeled to a sudden and terrified stop when she found her father’s gun pointed in her face. Jack immediately lowered his weapon, tucking it out of sight.  
  
“Sorry, sorry.” He moved to her and put a hand on her shoulder, steadying her.  
  
“They’re gone. Warning us about possible escapees, looking for Objectors.” Her voice was shaking. “They took Mum’s necklace, just because. I think the looters are actually Regency officers.” Her eyes slid past Jack to the Doctor on the bed. He was making small sounds of grief, fingers curled in the bedding. “Is he okay?”  
  
Jack hustled Annik out of the room, pulling the door closed behind him. It felt wrong to be party to the open grief of such a private man, let alone allow a stranger to witness it. “He’s lost in memories. He’ll be okay.” Memories that Jack had wielded like knives to use against him. He’d be okay, but Jack wasn’t looking forward to the aftermath of all this.  
  
Annik stroked the back of the hand he’d braced on her shoulder. “ We’re the last house in this community, and they’re moving on to the other side of the lake and the villas there. You can get him home.”  
  
Jack smiled, clearing the worry from his features. He pulled her into a hug. “Thank you. To you and your family.”  
  
Annik hugged him fiercely, but said nothing. When she released him, she turned away and headed down the stairs without looking back. Downstairs he could hear her parents greet her quietly, and then the sound of soft conversation punctuated by tears. Jack retreated back into the bedroom to give them their privacy. He’d give it a half hour, and then they’d move out.  
  
Jack left the door open a crack to let the hall light in. The Doctor had rolled onto his back and was pawing at his clothes, trying to to remember which pocket he’d left his sonic screwdriver in. He’d done the maneuver many times on their stagger through the woods on the way here, and Jack was oddly grateful to see the familiar motion. He sat down next to the Doctor.  
  
The Doctor looked up at him. His skin was damp, streaked with tears and sweat. “Jack.” His voice was a hoarse croak.  
  
“Yeah, it’s me.” He wiped the Doctor’s cheek. “Do you know where you are?” The answering frown and vague expression punctured his brief moment of hope that the Doctor’s mind was clearing. He wiped the Doctor’s other cheek. “You’re safe. We’re going to get you back to the TARDIS soon.”  
  
The Doctor caught Jack’s hand and turned his face into it. He muttered something into Jack’s palm that Jack couldn’t understand. He leaned forward, gently pulling his hand away from the Doctor’s mouth. “What was that?”  
  
“You smell good,” the Doctor said, grave and sincere.  
  
That wasn’t what he’d expected. Jack burst out laughing, looking down at the Doctor and grinning as warmth blossomed in his chest. The Doctor’s face lit into an answering smile, and all trace of his agony from earlier was erased. He reached up and hooked a hand around Jack’s neck, and Jack was caught completely off-guard when the Doctor pulled him down hard for a kiss. He muttered something that should have been a protest into the Doctor’s mouth, but the Doctor didn’t let him go, and very quickly the distracting pull of the Doctor’s fingers in his hair and the soft movement of his mouth whited out Jack’s thoughts. The kiss was messy and extremely motivated, and Jack had all but forgot where he was until he heard a cleared throat and a knock at the door.  
  
Startled back into self-awareness, Jack ripped himself from the Doctor, who made a disappointed noise of protest. Jann was at the door, looking extremely uncomfortable. Jack sprang to his feet, feeling like a child busted for stealing cookies. “I, ah–” He shut his mouth on the defensive explanations that were springing to mind. There was really no justification.  
  
“They’re gone,” Jann said. “And I want you gone too.” He wouldn’t look him in the eye. “You can take Annik’s vehicle. We’ll say you stole it. Just get out of here, and don’t come back.”  
  
Jack nodded. “Of course. I want to thank you–”  
  
“Don’t. This wasn’t for you.” Jann looked at him, and there was fierce anger in his eyes. “You promise me you won’t talk to Annik again. She’s all we have. Don’t drag her into some losing battle.”  
  
“I understand.” He could make that empty promise to Jann, but he couldn’t promise that Annik wouldn’t go and seek it out herself. That was up to her. Jann already knew that, judging by the vicious fear in his voice.  
  
Jann nodded. “Okay. The keys for the vehicle are in the kitchen. Be on your way quickly.”  
  
Jack nodded, and Jann closed the door on them, leaving them in the dark. The Doctor sighed, and his hand stole into Jack’s. Jack squeezed it. God, he was going to have so much explaining and apologizing to do when the Doctor was back to himself.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Outside the cottage the night was quiet, even the songs of insects subdued. Jack wrangled the Doctor into the covered back of the truck. Annik was an electrician in construction, and her vehicle was full of cables and tools. She was losing a lot of equipment along with her vehicle.  
  
Jack said as much to her, and she shrugged. “It might come back to me. I’ll report it stolen tomorrow afternoon.” She looked up at Jack. “Will that be enough time?”  
  
“I think so. Judging from what you said, we’ll be there in less than an hour. I can get us to our ship, and we’ll be gone.”  
  
Marice and Jann watched from the house. They’d agreed to give Annik an opportunity to say goodbye, but they watched like hawks as though their daughter might leap into the truck and take off with the two strange men who’d brought so much trouble into their home. Jack nodded to them, and Marice scowled back.  
  
“What will you do?” Jack asked Annik.  
  
Annik shook her head. “I don’t know. I thought I knew, but…” She tightened her crossed arms. “I know this isn’t right, but I don’t know what I can do. I’ll have to figure that out, I guess.”  
  
Jack smiled, and kissed her on the cheek. True to his promise to her father, he didn’t say anything. He’d leave her to her choice, and not encourage her either way. He wasn’t sure what he would have said anyway. He envied her the opportunity to stay with her family, to bury her head in the sand and pretend that the troubles on their world were someone else’s problem. But if she couldn’t, then he hoped she was successful in her fight. Whatever was in progress on this planet, it looked like it was headed for a bloody battle.  
  
They said their goodbyes and Annik retreated into the house. When the door was safely shut, Jack started the engine and pulled onto the street. In minutes they were on the dark road through the forest to town.  
  
In contrast to the rest of their escape, their trip to Tirradon went without a hitch. The TARDIS was parked next to a marble spire statue in the centre of town, and it was quick work to locate the landmark and make their way there. Dawn was just breaking as he drove over a pedestrian barrier into the large open square at the foot of the spire where the TARDIS sat. He left the truck out in the open and dragged the Doctor out of the truck and into the TARDIS.  
  
As soon as they crossed the threshold, the Doctor let out a cry of joy. “My TARDIS!” He stumbled from Jack, crashing into the control console. “Gorgeous thing, I missed you.”  
  
Jack directed the Doctor to the seat and set to work. He knew enough of the navigation system to throw the sequence to return to the last point of origin, and the ship was quickly humming its way back to Cardiff and the late 21st century to take Jack back to Torchwood and his responsibilities there. He was a consultant these days rather than a leader, but he still stuck around Earth most of the time, except these short jaunts with the Doctor now and again.  
  
“Now, to the infirmary.” He tugged the Doctor upright.  
  
“I’m alright, I’m feeling better,” the Doctor said. He still had the palour of death, eyes dark and wide against sallow skin, though his mind seemed a little clearer. “I’ll just lie down for a bit.”  
  
Jack ignored him, leading him to the infirmary. “This won’t take a minute.”  
  
The Doctor came without further protest, leaning heavily on Jack.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short-ish wind-up, and there you have it. Plenty of room left for further adventures, should I find inspiration.

With a bit of direction from the Doctor and some help from the TARDIS, Jack got the Doctor hooked up to a sonic dialysis machine, which quickly eradicated any remaining chemicals in his blood. In a mere five minutes, he was looking much more clear-headed.  
  
The Doctor sat quietly in the reclining chair, listening to the hum, thoughts turned inward. Jack stood in the corner to keep an eye on things. Seeing the colour return to the Doctor’s cheeks was gratifying, and when the Doctor glanced up at him briefly, his eyes were sharper, quicksilver thoughts visibly running behind them.  
  
Where was he supposed to begin with this apology? Sorry I terrorized you while in a disoriented state? Sorry I thoroughly took advantage of you when I should have known better? He shouldn’t have let the Doctor kiss him like that. And yet that thought led to the memory of the Doctor’s fingers sliding around the back of his head, and his mouth sucking on Jack’s lips and tongue, and–  
  
“Jack?”  
  
“What?” Jack snapped upright, guilty. The Doctor had removed himself from the chair and was getting his jacket back on. “How are you feeling? Alright?”  
  
“A bit worn out, but much better, thanks.” Jack nodded, and the Doctor settled his jacket on his shoulders. “Could do with some tea and biscuits.” He waited, and when Jack hadn’t said anything, he cocked his head toward the galley. “Care to join me?”  
  
“Oh. Oh, yes. Of course.” Jack blinked and followed the Doctor out of the infirmary. Somehow he’d expected the Doctor to dash off and dump him in Cardiff with a bare goodbye, but instead they rifled the cupboards for biscuits, coming up with a battered package of chocolate hobnobs for their trouble. The Doctor declared it good enough, and they settled in with two steaming mugs of tea and a plate of crumbling hobnobs.  
  
The Doctor took a sip of his tea and leaned back with a sigh. He glanced at Jack’s bare wrist. “Your vortex manipulator was in the building when it blew, wasn’t it?”  
  
Jack nodded. “Your screwdriver, too.”  
  
“I can have the TARDIS whip up a new one.” The Doctor leaned his elbow on the table, resting his chin on his hand. He tapped his fingers on his jaw. “I think I have a vortex manipulator around here somewhere. I’ll see if I can’t dig it out for you.”  
  
“Do I even want to know why you have one?”  
  
The Doctor shrugged and grinned. “Probably not.” His expression wavered, and then he dropped his eyes to the table. “Jack, I wanted to say–”  
  
Jack cut him off before the Doctor could bring up his transgressions. “I know, Doctor. I’m sorry.”  
  
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “I was going to say thank you.”  
  
“Ah.” Not what he was expecting. Perhaps the Doctor was going to let that kiss slide–that one, and the other one. God, how many times had he found excuses to kiss the Doctor? Jack took a sip of his tea to cover his embarrassment. Well, he wouldn’t turn away the opportunity to spare his pride. “Okay, then. You’re welcome.”  
  
The Doctor blew out a heavy breath, and set his tea to the side. “And I am sorry. For things I said, for what I did.” He rubbed at the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezed shut, and then he looked at Jack with pained embarrassment. “I hope you know I have great respect for you, Jack. I like travelling with you. I’m not bothered by what you are. Honestly, I’m not.”  
  
_I’d go mad, you here all the time._ Ah, that was what was nagging at the Doctor. “I’ve come to terms with what I am a long time ago. Don’t worry about it.”  
  
“When we’re here, in the TARDIS, it’s fine. She puts a lampshade on you, so to speak. You’re not as bright to look at. It’s not a problem.”  
  
“But out there, it’s too much if it’s for too long.” The Doctor nodded, and Jack dropped his uneaten biscuit back on the plate. He wasn’t hungry anymore. “Is that why the long gaps between your visits?”  
  
“Yes.” The Doctor sighed. “I’m sorry, Jack. It didn’t seem worth mentioning.”  
  
“I’d have liked to know.”  
  
“Okay, so now you know. But it doesn’t matter. Anyway, it works, doesn’t it? You and me, our little trips? I mean, it’s not just because of–” he waved his hands vaguely between them, “–that, but, you know?” He looked at Jack hopefully.  
  
Jack was reluctant to let go of his hurt, but he had to admit it did work. He and the Doctor had lives best lived independently. Even if once upon a time he would have willingly cut off a limb to stay on the TARDIS, these days he didn’t want that life. He had grown to love the rhythm of linear living, and he didn’t have the patience or inclination for the Doctor’s constant frenetic bouncing through time and space. He didn’t want to live in the Doctor’s world, and the Doctor would go mad in his. These whirlwind adventures gave him something to look forward to. As his life stretched on and his perspective on time changed, these trips with the Doctor were like long weekends away, recharging him for the next few years. They made him feel alive like nothing else. It was a strange friendship they had, but…  
  
“Yeah, it works,” he said with a lopsided smile.  
  
The Doctor’s relief was palpable, and he grinned broadly at Jack. Abruptly he stood, knocking the table and rattling the dishes on it in his haste. “C’mon. I want to look something up.”  
  
Jack had to scramble to keep up with the Doctor as he hurried off to the control room. Once there he flipped the screen on and started searching the TARDIS historical records for information on Alluwatitia. Information scrolled by faster than Jack could process, but the Doctor hummed and hawed as he read. He tapped a key and paused it on a frame, and gave a triumphant cry.  
  
“The Morgani Centre for Rehabilitation.” Jack read the name off the screen. The brief historical entry listed its destruction as the revelation to the population of the harsh abuses of military might that were prompting the formation of the Objectors and other groups protesting government authority. Once the facility was destroyed, information came to light that threw popular opinion behind the Objectors. In the space of a year, the tide shifted, and the old regime was tossed out on its ear.  
  
“I wonder what happened to Annik and her family,” Jack said. He settled into the jump seat.  
  
The Doctor ran a search and squinted at the screen. “There is an Annik Sherrah mentioned. An Objector member that led the final push that toppled the Regency. She was one of the first elected officials in the democracy that followed. Could be the same.”  
  
Jack grinned. “Yeah, that would be her. Guess she took the plunge after all.” It wouldn’t have been an easy road, though. War left a mark on everyone, even the victors. “I wonder what her parents did.”  
  
The Doctor dropped into the seat next to him. “Hard to say. Records are a little patchy from that period. I didn’t realize all this trouble was around the corner from my favourite pastie shop.” He kicked his feet up on the console, but his feet wiggled with anxious energy. “I suppose we played our part.”  
  
“Well done, us.” Jack watched the time rotor, pretending he didn’t notice the Doctor’s tension. He wasn’t surprised when the Doctor dropped his feet and shifted a knee up to turn and face Jack on the seat, something clearly weighing on his mind. “Something else?”  
  
“A lot of the past day is a blur–and frankly, I’m glad, because a man can only take so much humility at a time–but some things show up in, well, more vivid detail than others.” He took a deep breath, holding it for a moment, and then his words tumbled out in a rush of breath. “And I didn’t exactly acquit myself to the best of my ability.”  
  
Jack frowned. “What do you mean?”  
  
The Doctor hesitated, and then leaned toward Jack and pressed his lips to Jack’s in a slow and deliberate fashion. He pulled back uncertainly before Jack could do more than passively accept the kiss.  
  
Jack blinked at him, pleasantly bemused. “Um, thank you. What was that for?”  
  
“A proper kiss.” The Doctor scratched his ear, looking sheepish. “Something a bit nicer than drooling all over you like a drunken imbecile. Sorry about that. I mean, I’d been thinking about it for a while now, which I suppose is obvious after me carrying on like I did. Thought I might’ve worked up to it by the last time I saw you with the fishing expedition, but then we ended up covered in herring, and it didn’t seem like a good time–”  
  
Jack held up a hand, trying to stop the Doctor’s rambling flood. “Wait, that was years ago. You were planning to kiss me then?”  
  
The Doctor ruffled his hair, leaving the ends sticking out at odd angles. “It had crossed my mind, yeah.”  
  
A piece slotted into place, and suddenly a whole new picture emerged. “Doctor, have you been taking me on dates?” At the look on the Doctor’s face, he let out an incredulous laugh. “All this time you’ve been taking me on dates, and I didn’t notice?”  
  
The Doctor looked flustered. “Well, I didn’t exactly–”  
  
Jack didn’t give him time to finish. He leaned forward and cupped the Doctor’s face, pulling him into a deep kiss. If the Doctor wanted a proper kiss, he’d get one. It didn’t take long before the kiss was far from proper.  
  
“Yes, I was picturing something like that,” the Doctor said when they finally broke off. His cheeks had a warm blush to them.  
  
“Next time, don’t be so subtle. I’d have kissed you, herring or no.”  
  
The Doctor nodded, looking grave. “Noted.”  
  
The trip back to Cardiff took much longer than usual, and when the Doctor finally left Jack in Roald Dahl Plass with a last lingering kiss and a promise to return, he hoped the years until his next trip with the Doctor would fly by.


End file.
